Giving the Gift of Love in Time

Giving the Gift of Love in Time

Time is my “Isaac”, it is something I need to learn to let go of. I need to learn to sacrifice the time I have and not hoard it. I seem to try to hold onto it too tightly.

Ann Voskamp, in her book The Broken Way, says that time is to be sacrificed not to be seized. It is something to give rather than hold onto.

The Lord gives us 1440 minutes each day, it is a gift, every minute, every second. It is so easily squandered away, wasted or used selfishly. The Broken Way helped me to see once again my tunnel vision when it comes to time. I have an agenda. I know what I need to do and what I want to accomplish. And I rarely see outside of that or beyond that.

Ann shares how she used her 40th birthday to give to others in so many beautiful ways. It all began with an idea in her mind but she did not feel the desire to carry the idea out. Yet, she moved forward with it anyway. She gave away her birthday in gifting others. She found herself so happy doing it. Blessing others became a blessing for her and her whole family.

This made me wonder about what I have been missing when I am so over-focused on my to-do list and so oblivious to opportunities.

Ann says that our days, each day is a “pocket of possibility” and that we only need a willing hand to give or to bless. She also talks about how her list of things she needs to do can become more about ways to love.

Those concepts really resonate with me. The way you think about something changes how you go about it. Can you imagine what it would be like if you looked at each item that you now see as an obligation or a thing to accomplish instead as an opportunity to love? Maybe the question to ask ourselves is: how can I show love or be love or give love today? Maybe it’s by making a delicious home-cooked meal eaten in candlelight. Maybe it’s by putting fresh sheets on the bed and spraying them with a favorite perfume, or with a love-note in the lunchbox. Maybe it’s a handwritten card or letter to a friend you know is going through a rough time or a visit to a shut-in.

Somehow thinking about it this way transforms how you look at your to-do list. When you think of it in terms of ways of loving your family, your friends, and those you have contact with, it spurs us on in creativity. You know how at birthday time and Christmas time we try to wrap up something special and keep it a surprise. Wouldn’t that be a fun way to look at your agenda? It would mean thinking of everything there is to do and the time it takes to do it as a gift for someone. And the creativity comes in when you go about deciding how you will fill it with love and make it a sweet surprise.

Looking at it that way makes me feel more apt to open my hands and let go of my tight grip on moments or hours of the day. Each moment holds another possibility to use my God-given time. I think that later when I write my to-do list for tomorrow, I am going to contemplate how I can make the things I need to accomplish into ways of loving others. And then I am going to explore the possibilities for being creative in how I live out love in the moments of my day.

How will you use your time to love as you go through your day? Be creative and remember your pockets of time are filled with so many possibilities!

Cheryl – so love the pocket watch picture you used! This statement: The way you think about something changes how you go about it. Can you imagine what it would be like if you looked at each item that you now see as an obligation or a thing to accomplish instead as an opportunity to love? – OH WOW – Stop – Check your heart… or my heart – this is so, so true.. I had the opportunity to do just that a week ago,when I have a to do list a mile long – obligations and I wanted to get them done, and someone needed me, my time, not my to do list – so I dropped everything to love her and help her – giving of my time. Thank you so much for sharing the lessons you are learning from the Broken Way. We are neighbors today at #TeaAndWord and almost neighbors over at #RaRaLinkup